SB Camera Club Meeting:
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 3, 7PM, at South Brunswick Water & Sewer Municipal Building.
Out of This World Photography: Astrophotography
Brian Van Liew, Amateur Astronomer, Astrophotographer
Brian with Meade 178 setup
Brian’s first job in electronics design with a small company that specializes in research and design of electronics and computers provided him with the means to realize a dream. He could finally afford to buy a telescope that would allow him to pursue his interest in astronomy. That was about twelve years ago. He soon found that there was a lot that he needed to learn about the objects he was viewing in his telescope. So he joined the Amateur Astronomers Association of Princeton. There he found the support he needed. Among other things, he developed an interest in the work of Charles Messier, an 18th century astronomer who catalogued over 100 visually diffuse objects, both permanent and transient, in his quest for comets, of which he discovered 13. His catalog of 110 deep sky objects is used by astronomers today, each object being identified by the letter M and a number. (See the photo of M27, a planetary nebula, taken by Brian Van Liew.)
After about two years Brian decided that photographs of the objects he was viewing would allow him to study them in more detail. With the assistance of another club astrophotographer, who became his mentor, Brian gradually acquired and learned to use the equipment needed.
At our April 3 meeting Brian will be demonstrating his equipment, which consists of a refracting telescope; a computerized mounting and tracking system; a Canon 450D (his main imaging camera), modified for H-alpha; and various eyepieces. The final image is produced by taking multiple exposures and using specialized software on the computer. Brian will show us a beautiful collection of Messier objects and other deep sky photographs.
Brian resides locally, in Somerset County, with his wife and family. Besides his astrophotography, he spends a great deal of his spare time as a mentor to the local high school FIRST robotics team.
M27 ©2013 Brian Van Liew
The South Brunswick Camera Club & The Princeton Camera Club
Group Non-juried Show • Through April 28
Photographic Work from both clubs will be on exhibit, March 8–April 28, 2013
The Art Way Gallery at the Princeton Alliance Church, Shalks Crossing Road, Plainsboro, NJ
In memory of Vera Schwartz, founder of the South Brunswick
Camera Club, a special group of Vera’s photographs will be on display.
SBCC: Guest Speaker Calendar–2013
May 1, 2013 Tom Icklan: Photoshop CS5-6, Working with Mixed Brushes
June 5, 2013 TBD